Comments on: Chia Gelhttp://nouveauraw.com/raw-thickeners/chia-gel/
Raw Food Alchemy by Amie SueSun, 02 Aug 2015 01:31:14 +0000hourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=4.2.2By: Danahttp://nouveauraw.com/raw-thickeners/chia-gel/#comment-30358
Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:18:07 +0000http://sweetexchange.com/?p=2135#comment-30358Ooops! Typo on step 1. Thank you for the info! Defs going to use this!
]]>By: amie-suehttp://nouveauraw.com/raw-thickeners/chia-gel/#comment-8229
Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:54:52 +0000http://sweetexchange.com/?p=2135#comment-8229Hi Melissa,
I don’t do much “baking”. I try to keep my diet high in whole foods. Both my husband and I are GF and I know that there are tons of new GF products on the market but just because they are GF doesn’t mean they are any healthier. So, with that, I just don’t dabble much with it. I grind chia seeds depending on the texture I want in my recipe. If you don’t want “seeds” to show in your recipe, grind them. If a person doesn’t like the texture of the seeds, grind them. But this step is not required unless someone has a recipe that specifies it. They don’t need to be ground to release the nutrients. Chia seeds do however add great nutrients to cooked recipes, so use them!

CUT FAT = They can cut the fat in a recipe by 50%. If a recipe calls for 8 tablespoons of butter, use 4 tablespoons of butter and 4 tablespoons of chia gel. Bake the cookies just as you normally would.
EGG REPLACER = To replace an egg, use ¼ cup of water with 1 teaspoon ground chia, or 1.5 teaspoons whole chia seeds.
For a recipe with texture, like cookies, muffins or breads with nuts, seeds, etc., whole seeds will work.
FLOUR SUBSTITUTE = Ground chia works better for cakes, brownies, and less textured baked goods. Some people just replace all of the flour with chia flour, and others use a combination of chia flour and regular or gluten-free flour. Using all chia flour is OK for doughs that tend to be a bit thick or gummy anyway, but for more solid mixtures like cookie dough, itâ€™s best to use a combination of 1 part chia flour to 3 parts regular or gluten-free flour.
THICKENER = Chia seeds ground finely to a powder can be used as a thickener for puddings and other silky smooth recipes.
BINDER – A small amount of chia can replace xantham or guar gum. For most recipes, ¼ to ½ teaspoon of ground chia can serve as a binder.

Just like preparing raw food, learning to bake GF or learning to sub out unhealthy ingredients for healthier ones, requires playing and experimenting in the kitchen.

Right now I eat 1/2 cup of ground chia daily. I grind the seeds and make a porridge out of it and eat it through out the day. The only reason I grind it up is to give myself some variety. lol Ground chia seems to thicken even more so than the seeds.

I hope this helps some Melissa…. let me know! amie sue

]]>By: Melissahttp://nouveauraw.com/raw-thickeners/chia-gel/#comment-8228
Mon, 18 Jun 2012 22:15:19 +0000http://sweetexchange.com/?p=2135#comment-8228Can you explain why it’s beneficial to grind Chia seeds some more? If I was to grind the Chia seeds, can I then make a gel with that for substitution of fats in baked goods? Had any luck using Chia gel in baked goods yourself?
]]>By: amie-suehttp://nouveauraw.com/raw-thickeners/chia-gel/#comment-7674
Thu, 12 Apr 2012 21:44:01 +0000http://sweetexchange.com/?p=2135#comment-7674Hi Christine,

I am not so sure that it would give you the outcome that you are expecting. If you have worked with chia gel, it doesn’t get “fluffy” as a whip cream. It is a great thickener. A person could try to grind the chia seeds to make a powder and then add it to coconut milk, again it would just thicken it, not “fluff”. Not in my experience anyway.